Best movies like Brightness
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A young man with magical powers journeys to his uncle to request help in fighting his sorcerer father.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Mali, France, Burkina Faso, West Germany
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, captivating, light
Best tv shows and movies like Brightness (1987):
Similar in 87%
Neverland (2003)
Plot Summary:
Damion Dietz's NEVERLAND is a dark, modernized, and highly original retelling of the childhood classic PETER PAN. In this version, Peter (Rick Sparks) is a juvenile delinquent, Tinkerbell (Kari... Damion Dietz's NEVERLAND is a dark, modernized, and highly original retelling of the childhood classic PETER PAN.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 472
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: serious, offbeat, bleak
Similar in 76%
The Tempest (1979)
Plot Summary:
Prospero, a potent magician, lives on a desolate isle with his virginal daughter, Miranda. He's in exile, banished from his duchy by his usurping brother and the King of Naples. Providence brings these enemies near; aided by his vassal the spirit Ariel, Prospero conjures a tempest to wreck the Italian ship. The king's son, thinking all others lost, becomes Prospero's prisoner, falling in love with Miranda and she with him. Prospero's brother and the king wander the island, as do a drunken cook and sailor, who conspire with Caliban, Prospero's beastly slave, to murder Prospero. Prospero wants reason to triumph, Ariel wants his freedom, Miranda a husband; the sailors want to dance.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: avant garde, independent film, atmospheric, offbeat, serious, experimental, surreal, stylized, sexual, sexy
Similar in 79%
The Juniper Tree (1990)
Plot Summary:
Margit and her older sister, Katla, flee their homeland in Iceland after their mother is killed for practicing witchcraft. Needing a place to stay, Katla casts a spell over a young farmer named Jóhann which makes him fall in love with her, ensuring the wellbeing of herself and Margit. Jóhann's son, Jóhas, sees through Katla's plan and pleads for his father to make her go away. To help Jóhas in his struggle, Margit's mother appears to Margit in visions and provides a magic amulet of protection for the boy. Will Jóhas be able to rid his family of Katla or will she continue to control them with her witchcraft?.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Iceland
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: black and white, minimal cast, aesthetic, fairy tale, serious, contemplative, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 76%
Spiderwebhouse (2015)
Plot Summary:
When 12-year-old Jonas’ mother leaves to “fight her demons”, he steps up as head of the household, becoming the unofficial guardian to his younger siblings. With food and money running out, the children retreat into a world of their own where, cloaked eerily in black-and-white, their home turns into one of bugs and mysticism – they make saucepan gardens, they take on insects as pets and spiderwebs encroach. Only the friendship of an odd young homeless man gives Jonas hope to survive in an adult’s world.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 184
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Germany
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, psychological, suspenseful, rough, realistic, gloomy, psychotronic
Similar in 86%
Running Wild (1998)
Plot Summary:
A drama directed by Timothy Bond.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 119
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, captivating, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 82%
Medea (1969)
Plot Summary:
Based on the plot of Euripides' Medea. Medea centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed her for another woman.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Italy, France, West Germany
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: spiritual, fairy tale, psychedelic, epic, surreal, neorealism, fantasy adventure, cult classic, serious, talky
Similar in 86%
Sankofa (1993)
Plot Summary:
A self-absorbed Black American fashion model on a photo shoot in Africa is spiritually transported back to a plantation in the West Indies where she experiences first-hand the physical and psychic horrors of chattel slavery, and eventually the redemptive power of community and rebellion as she becomes a member of a freedom-seeking Maroon colony.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 784
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Ghana, Burkina Faso, UK, Germany, Ethiopia
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: inspirational, independent film, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 84%
Astral City: A Spiritual Journey (2010)
Plot Summary:
The selfish Dr. André Luiz dies and awakes in the limbo called "Umbral". After a painful period in the gruesome swamp, he is rescued and brought in a white light to "Nosso Lar" (meaning "Our Home"). He finds a place of harmony, where people live in peace awaiting.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Brazil
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: spiritual, serious, captivating, atmospheric, stylized, mystical, mind bending, psychedelic, social, smart
Similar in 81%
The Beautiful Fantasy of Final Purpose (2020)
Plot Summary:
A small town, a flower of Amancay, a topaz of the most beautiful color and a broken family.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 10
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Argentina
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, captivating, suspense, dark, suspenseful, independent film, student film
Similar in 88%
Westender (2003)
Plot Summary:
Set in a fictional medieval world, this is the story of Asbrey of Westender. Once a great heroic knight, he has mysteriously fallen from grace. One night he drunkenly bets and loses his ring, his last possession of worth. He then embarks on a mission to regain his ring and, in due course, confront the demons of his past.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 315
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, contemplative, exciting, captivating
Similar in 86%
Green Snake (1993)
Plot Summary:
A mischievous snake who assumes human form interferes with the romance between her reptilian sister and a hapless man.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: surreal, atmospheric, serious, stylized, cult classic, allegory, cult film
Similar in 82%
The Strange Case of Angelica (2010)
Plot Summary:
A magical tale about a young photographer who falls madly in love with a woman he can never have, except in his dreams. Late one night, Isaac is summoned by a wealthy family to take the last photograph of a young bride, Angelica, who mysteriously passed away. Arriving at their estate, Isaac is struck by Angelica's beauty, but when he looks through his lens, something strange happens - the young woman appears to come to life. From that moment, Isaac will be haunted by Angelica day and night.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Portugal, Spain, France, Brazil
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, emotional, contemplative, captivating, serious, realistic, gloomy, beautiful
Similar in 76%
A Blind River (2009)
Plot Summary:
Seong-chan, aka Lucas Fedora, rejects his girlfriend's proposal to get married and start a family of their own and leaves her to return to Korea and find his biological mother. He checks into a run down motel owned by two widows who have demons of their own. Seong-chan's dreams and his past intermingle with tragic results.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 50
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: South Korea
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: emotional, tense, atmospheric, serious, realistic, captivating, independent film
Similar in 90%
Mother of George (2013)
Plot Summary:
A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Nigeria, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, serious, psychological, captivating, visually stunning, sincere, independent film
Similar in 78%
Magic Journey to Africa (2010)
Plot Summary:
Jana’s magical journey to Africa contains a deep message about friendship, love, passion, nature and imagination. It is a spiritual journey for adults and a magical one for kids, full of mysteries, adventures and discoveries.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 209
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: Spain
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: semi serious, sincere, captivating, exciting, light, stylized
Similar in 79%
Prospero's Books (1991)
Plot Summary:
An exiled magician finds an opportunity for revenge against his enemies muted when his daughter and the son of his chief enemy fall in love in this uniquely structured retelling of the 'The Tempest'.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: UK, Netherlands, France, Italy, Japan
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: experimental, surreal, psychedelic, epic, art house, non-linear, psychotronic, postmodern, cult classic, atmospheric
Similar in 87%
Under the Mountain (2009)
Plot Summary:
Teenage twins battle dark forces hidden beneath Auckland's volcanoes.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, captivating, suspense, scary, feel good, lovecraft, serious, disaster movie
Similar in 87%
Moolaadé (2003)
Plot Summary:
When a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female genital mutilation, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon, France
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: disturbing, sincere, thought provoking, touching, political, art house, serious, realistic, contemplative, light
Similar in 90%
The Kitchen Toto (1987)
Plot Summary:
The son of a priest slain by the Mau Mau moves in with a police officer and his wife in 1950 Kenya.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 266
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: independent film, grindhouse, sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic, disturbing, biting, suspense
Similar in 83%
Krabat and the Legend of the Satanic Mill (2008)
Plot Summary:
A 14-year-old orphan named Krabat flees the horrors of the 30 Years War by becoming an apprentice to an ominous master of a mysterious mill. Krabat is not only taught the craft of milling, but is also instructed in the sinister world of the darker arts. When the life of his friend and protector is threatened, Krabat must struggle to free himself from an evil sorcerer's control in a gripping fight for freedom, friendship and love.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
Country: Germany, UK, Romania
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, stylized, captivating, fairy tale
Similar in 90%
Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned (2016)
Plot Summary:
Days after her friends disappear during a trip to a mysterious cave, a girl is approached by a grown man claiming to be one of her missing pals.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: South Korea
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: romantic, captivating, suspenseful, surreal, dramatic, fairy tale
Similar in 76%
Dry Season (2006)
Plot Summary:
Chad, 2006. After a forty-year civil war, the radio announces the government has just amnestied the war criminals. Outraged by the news, Gumar Abatcha orders his grandson Atim, a sixteen-year-old youth, to trace the man who killed his father and to execute him. Atim obeys him and, armed with his father's own gun, he goes in search of Nassara, the man who made him an orphan. It does not take long before he finds him. Nassara, who now goes straight, is married, goes to the mosque and owns a small bakery. After some hesitation Atim offers him his services as an apprentice. He is hired then it will be easy for him to gun down the murderer of his father. At least, that is what he thinks.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 966
Genere: Drama
Country: Chad, France, Belgium, Austria
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, realistic, bleak, captivating, islamic, thought provoking, serious
Similar in 90%
Starry Starry Night (2011)
Plot Summary:
There was once a young girl named May who felt alienated from everyone around her. May is worried about her mother and father, whose marriage is on the rocks, and she yearns to return to the woods where her grandfather lives. One day, May befriends a boy as lonely as she is. When reality catches up, they run away to a beautiful world that belongs only to them. Both imaginatively escapist and heartbreakingly realistic, their journey speaks to kids and adults alike with the pain of solitude, the sorrow of loss, and the warmth of hope.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Taiwan, China, Hong Kong
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, psychological, visually appealing, sexy, experimental, independent film, touching, serious, stylized
Similar in 80%
A Screaming Man (2010)
Plot Summary:
Present-day Chad. Adam, sixty something, a former swimming champion, is pool attendant at a smart N'Djamena hotel. When the hotel gets taken over by new Chinese owners, he is forced to give up his job to his son Abdel. Terribly resentful, he feels socially humiliated. The country is in the throes of a civil war. Rebel forces are attacking the government. The authorities demand that the population contribute to the "war effort", giving money or volunteers old enough to fight off the assailants. The District Chief constantly harasses Adam for his contribution. But Adam is penniless; he only has his son.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Belgium, Chad
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: realistic, thought provoking, serious, captivating, contemplative, psychological, atmospheric, tense, sincere, bleak
Similar in 86%
Cremaster 3 (2002)
Plot Summary:
CREMASTER 3 (2002) is set in New York City and narrates the construction of the Chrysler Building, which is in itself a character - host to inner, antagonistic forces at play for access to the process of (spiritual) transcendence. These factions find form in the struggle between Hiram Abiff or the Architect.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 182 min
Plot tags: surreal, mind bending, atmospheric, stylized, serious, thought provoking, psychedelic, disturbing, independent film, avant garde
Similar in 75%
Sounds of Sand (2006)
Plot Summary:
On the one hand, there's the desert eating away at the land. The endless dry season, the lack of water. On the other there's the threat of war. The village well has run dry. The livestock is dying. Trusting their instinct, most of the villagers leave and head south. Rahne, the only literate one, decides to head east with his three children and Mouna, his wife. A few sheep, some goats and Chamelle, a dromedary, are their only riches. A tale of exodus, quest, hope and fatality. Rahne and his family travel across hostile lands under a lethal sun, walking endlessly onwards and frequently crossing paths with death. But "Sounds of sand" is also a parable about determination and eternity that takes us in the footsteps of Shasha, a nomad child full of the joys of life, whose tenacity and strength will conquer her father's love.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 553
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, serious, captivating, bleak, realistic
Similar in 83%
DreamKeeper (2003)
Plot Summary:
In South Dakota, in an Indian reservation, an old storyteller Indian asks his grandson Shane, who is in trouble owing money to some bad guys, to take his old pony and him to Albuquerque to the great powwow, an Indian meeting. While traveling, Grandpa tells mysterious Indian tales of love, friendship and magic.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA, Canada, Germany
Duration: 174 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, sentimental, feel good, philosophical, spiritual, epic, independent film, esoteric, semi serious
Similar in 85%
Natural Sciences (2014)
Plot Summary:
In a rural school in the middle of the mountains, a girl who is starting to become a woman feels the profound need to discover her true identity. She does not know who her father is and she is determined to find him, but her mother does not approve it. The hostility of winter in such a harsh place turns this desire into a real threat: freezing in the middle of nowhere. Going behind the backs of the school authorities and the girl's mother, her teacher decides to help her. They set off on this quest for truth, but it is not going to be an easy journey... Their only clue is a small, rusty plate.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 319
Genere: Drama
Country: Argentina, France
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy, road movie
Similar in 84%
The Mists of Avalon (2001)
Plot Summary:
A unique re-working of the Arthurian epic, based on the novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Mists of Avalon tells the familiar tale but with an important twist: The story is told through the eyes of the women who wielded power behind King Arthur's throne. Filmed on location in Prague, The Mists of Avalon follows the women of Avalon through the ultimate fulfillment of their destinies.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Czech Republic, Germany, USA
Duration: 183 min
Plot tags: epic, exciting, fairy tale, atmospheric, arthurian, captivating, entertaining, serious, erotic, period piece
Similar in 90%
Our Father (2002)
Plot Summary:
Two boys (Tamir & Amine) awake one morning to find that their father has abandoned their family. Shocked, they begin to misbehave. While surreptitiously watching a movie, they think they see their father speaking to them and steal the film to examine the frames. Their mother (Achta) eventually despairs and sends them to Koranic school. Unhappy, they plan their escape until the eldest boy falls in love with a deaf girl (Khalil).
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 734
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Chad, Netherlands
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, captivating, contemplative, crying, entertaining